A billycan is a tin or enamel cooking pot with a lid and wire handle, used outdoors, especially for making tea. In Ireland, a billycan is most often associated with 'travellers' who were once called by the name 'tinkers' because these 'gypsy-like folk' were tinsmiths.

According to the Australian National Dictionary Centre, the word comes from the Scottish billy meaning ‘cooking utensil’. An alternative derivation is the Scottish bally, meaning 'milk pail.'

Vaublin is a fictitious painter who appears in two of Banville's other novels, Ghosts and Athena.

Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) popularised the fête galante painting style, placing real patrons in scenes of Arcadian mythology. The general theme, according to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., is of 'well-dressed members of the upper class pursuing love, music, conversation'.

The term fête galante, literally "gallant party" refers to various theatrical entertainments of the Versailles court during the 18th Century.